CNC plasma cutter build

[DavidR8]

@DavidR8

It looks like the Y axis rack teeth are facing UP. That is undesirable because any debris will stay there and will interfere with the gear mesh.
Gear wear and possible jamming . . . bad.

I recommend that you go through what ever trouble it is to re-orient the rack so the teeth are down. Let Gravity work for you, not against you.

That’s a good point. I believe the motor mount is symmetrical so I can easily flip the the whole sliding assembly end for end so the rack is on top.

 

[DavidR8]

Spent a bunch of time cleaning up the shop to day but did manage a bit of progress on the build.
As @extropic sagely noticed, having the Y-axis gear rack oriented teeth facing up was inviting a build up of crud in the gears.
So I flipped the axis end for end and added a tension spring to maintain good gear mesh.
I also milled .05” off the end of the motor shafts as they dragged on the axis plates. Shaft milled like cream cheese as Tom Lipton says.

Though looking at the photo I should probably flip the motor mount so the slot faces down.

I liked how the tension spring worked on the Y-axis so I also added one to the X-axis.

I must be almost done building as the box from McMasterCarr is almost empty

 

[f350ca]

Looking good David, wise move flipping it, the dust gets everywhere. I have to wipe down/buff my v rails fairly often as the roller pack the grit on them.
Does your spring engage the gear tight into the rack? I made mine that way and it virtually eliminates backlash.

Greg

 

[DavidR8]

Looking good David, wise move flipping it, the dust gets everywhere. I have to wipe down/buff my v rails fairly often as the roller pack the grit on them.
Does your spring engage the gear tight into the rack? I made mine that way and it virtually eliminates backlash.

Greg

Thanks Greg, appreciate the advice on wiping it down periodically.
Yes adding the spring eliminated any backlash.
Do you have any pictures of yours?

 

[DAT510]

Great Project David!

Do you know what software you plan to run?

 

[DavidR8]

Great Project David!

Do you know what software you plan to run?

So far I'm doing CAD/CAM in Fusion 360. Using Universal G-Code Sender (UGS) for the actual machine control. I use a Mac so I can't use SheetCAM as it's PC only.
I recently discovered the Openbuild software though so I'd like to play around with that as a precursor to building a CNC router.

OpenBuilds Software: OpenBuilds CONTROL and OpenBuilds CAM - FREE software to run your CNC, Laser, Plasma or Pen Plotter

Download page for OpenBuilds Software / OpenBuilds CAM / OpenBuilds CONTROL

software.openbuilds.com

 

[Papa Charlie]

Really great work David. I am impressed with the work and thought you have put into this.

 

[DavidR8]

Really great work David. I am impressed with the work and thought you have put into this.

Thank you sir! I cannot claim much credit as I'm working from a plan.
Most of the credit goes to the good folks who I've learned from!
I have learned a ton of things along the way which I think is the most important outcome. Unless you ask my partner who is anxiously waiting on her yard art

 

[Braeden P]

we had lawn art in our flower bed one got knocked over buried in weed the hedge trimmer does not like lawn art so now we dont have any but we have a new hedge trimmer

 

[rabler]

Building a plasma table is on my long term list so I'm watching this closely.